In the case of irradiation apparatuses of the type at issue, a conversion element, also referred to as a phosphor element, is irradiated with pump radiation, which is converted in this case to a conversion radiation of another spectral composition. The pump radiation can be, for example, blue light, wherein, in the case of a so-called partial conversion, proportionally non-converted blue light together with yellow light as conversion radiation can then be mixed to produce white light. The pump radiation source, typically a laser, and the conversion element are arranged at a distance from one another whereby an irradiation apparatus with a high radiation or light density can be realized. A more recent area of application is road illumination by way of a motor vehicle headlight, which is intended to illustrate the present subject matter but primarily is not intended to restrict the generality thereof.